Artist field note

Caravaggio

Light, violence and ordinary people.

Appears inThe GiantsItaly

01 / 05

The Calling of Saint Matthew

1599-1600

A finger points. Light crosses a dark room. Matthew seems to ask, 'Me?' Revelation looks startlingly ordinary.

The five in one idea

Caravaggio made painting feel less like looking at history and more like witnessing it.